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Player Discussion Tage Thompson 2

Snippit said:
In reflecting on the poll on the main board, if somebody told me Tage Thompson would surpass Jack Eichel as a player 3 years ago, I would have assumed it was a troll.

Not only has Thompson been better than Eichel this season (and Jack was playing very well prior to his injury), he is playing better than Eichel's absolute prime for us, which was his 19-20 season.

Then again, if he keeps this up he's in the Matthews conversation. But that's for another day.
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Tage is having a beast of year but something is off.

So many players are having career years. Claude Giroux is having a career year.
 
Oh said:
Tage is having a beast of year but something is off.

So many players are having career years. Claude Giroux is having a career year.
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There are a ton of reasons for this, and honestly it's pretty normal. League scoring has done this many times over the course of it's history. There are always peaks and valleys, and have been from the beginning. When scoring starts to dip various factors lead to more scoring. Whether it's rule changes, equipment changes, or just the way they play the game.

Right now I think we are seeing something that teams hadn't been doing previously, adding skill throughout the line-up. More and more teams are getting away from the big physical 3rd or 4th line players, and even the defense first bottom 6 guys in favor of more highly skilled players. Teams are also favoring mobile puck moving defenseman more than ever now. Think back to just 10 years ago and how many shutdown or defensive defensemen there were in the league. As those guys age out, they are more often than not being replaced by more mobile guys. Most teams used to have 3 or 4 shutdown types, now most are lucky if they have 1 or 2.

More highly skilled players, less defense first players, less obstruction, better shooters and less high end goalies in the league = more scoring. I'm sure in another 5 - 8 years we'll end up seeing scoring start to dip again as goalies, defensive schemes and defensive players start to catch back up.

scoring.png
 
It's wild that scoring is up, but still within the range of DPE. That's with a much higher # of EN goals being scored too.
 
Snippit said:
In reflecting on the poll on the main board, if somebody told me Tage Thompson would surpass Jack Eichel as a player 3 years ago, I would have assumed it was a troll.

Not only has Thompson been better than Eichel this season (and Jack was playing very well prior to his injury), he is playing better than Eichel's absolute prime for us, which was his 19-20 season.

Then again, if he keeps this up he's in the Matthews conversation. But that's for another day.
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With a Lemieux conversation ceiling.
 
Tage Thompson is the Sabres best forward since…?

Pat Lafontaine? I mean Danny was great and scoring was way down… but I’m 38 and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Sabres forward dominate night in and night out like this.

Can’t wait to watch his game continue to evolve.
 
Waterfowlist said:
Never even remotely like this. He was also dominant in a way where it was all about him. He isn’t a guy who elevated his teammates. Tage is playing like one of the top 3-5 players. He is who we dreamed Eichel would be one day.
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That's a great way to put it - Thompson is the player we hoped Eichel would be and wasn't. Tage is likeable, has overcome adversity, shows up in key moments and is all in on being in Buffalo, and he's on a great long-term deal. It's everything Jack was not.
 
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For Thompson's size, it's incredible that his hands are as good as they are in close.

Tuch's first assist was a nice play for sure, but the pass was in Thompson's skates and the quickness in which he brought the puck to his blade to release the shot was just special.
 
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